– The starts turned out to be bright and colorful, they stood at a good level, – Vladimir Salnikov told . – A good team works in Kazan, which has extensive experience in organizing high-level competitions. Many countries had fears about coming here, but those who have come now have no such fears. Reportedly, participants from around 10 to 15 countries wanted to participate in these departures, but were concerned about the reaction upon their return. This obviously worried them. But the echoes have followed one another, and the competitions have not gone unnoticed by our overseas colleagues, the results are published, everyone compares them to the results of the World Championship in the “what if…” format. Although it is clear that from the point of view of the intensity of emotions and passions, the World Cup helps to improve the result.
Most of the leaders managed to confirm their level here. I’m sure that Evgeny Rylov will also please us in other competitions this year.
As for the prize money, we decided to do it in such a way that, on the one hand, we did not enter the amount of the level of the world championship, but at the same time it was an adequate reward. Coaches and athletes will receive prizes. In addition, the fight for the super prize will be extended until the end of the year. We see how the guys got involved in the fight. The same Clément, who shows a good level over several distances.
Separately, I would like to note Evgenia Chikunova with her result, which is faster than Lilly King at the World Championships. Maria Kameneva, Arina Surkova show good seconds.
– There are federations that have taken the “let them run for the medals” route. Without prizes, would it be difficult for the athletes?
– Not that it’s difficult, but because of the lack of international competitions, where the prize money is really indicated… It’s not enough to just play for the medals now, I think. We found, it seems to me, the best option with cash prizes. As for the sports part, we deliberately combined the Russian Cup with the Friendship Games in order to achieve a combined effect, which, in fact, happened especially in terms of the number of participants – more of 700 people came.
– Is open water somewhat helpless in this regard? The season is already short, and here there is no World Cup.
— We also thought about the prize fund for open water. Now we are working to officially regulate the performance of our open water swimmers at a distance of 5 km in the pool. But in this sport, everything is based on speeds in the pool, and not just on endurance, and 5 km in the pool is an indicator that allows you to compare speeds in calm water. We have included 5 km in the program of departures in Volgograd.
In August, we will hold All-Russian competitions in the Leningrad region, our marathon runners will take part in them. We are planning to hold the Russian Championship in Sukko, but we are also looking for a backup option in case of bad weather conditions.
Airports in southern Russia are closed. Are there any difficulties with this, especially with regard to summer camps?
– We had planned to take the team to the training camp on a water boat, but the navigation period had not started yet, so the guys took the bus through the mountains. But it’s okay, I think it’s not that difficult. Athletes must be tough in every way.
– So they don’t seem to be complaining, they say it’s in the order of things.
“In sport, you have to overcome difficulties all the time. And if we talk about open water… Everything was great in Penza, excellent in competitions, and the next day there was a thunderstorm, hail… We went out, swam and took pride in overcoming such terms.
– Is there still someone who wants to change sports citizenship?
– Calls and wishes, at least so far, have not been received.
– Sanctions concerning our participation in international competitions are valid until the end of the year. How is the work with FINA built?
– We are in contact with the international federation, and they are interested in this contact. All this hysteria will end, and we can, without cutting these ties, return to performing on the international stage. All our competitions that were to be held in Russia are not in the status of cancellation, but of postponement. Also, now, in general, because of the pandemic, we have the World Aquatic Championship on our calendar every year. The postponement of the World Cup in Qatar to February was actively discussed, there are always opponents and supporters. Yes, February is atypical, but I think everyone will be able to adapt, as was the case before Tokyo: the European Championship before the Games, which few people went to, suddenly became a qualifying round for some teams. Our team won many medals during this European Championship in Budapest, but the athletes and coaches who were sober about their task in the Olympics finally fulfilled it.
Of course, we will have to think about what to do with the national selection, most likely, we will have to hold it in the winter world championship, as it happened before the short water. I think all of this is doable. There is no disaster with that.
– The main thing is that then the Olympics are for us.
– Yes, the main thing is that all this takes place.
— How was the FINA congress?
– We applied to all the committees, but no appointment of our specialists took place. The exception was the inclusion of Maria Polyakova in the Athletes’ Commission, but the athletes themselves voted for her. The FINA President indicated that as soon as the international situation calms down, our candidates will be able to be in the technical commissions.
– Many people say that at the congresses of international federations, the situation, in principle, continues to work, no matter what.
– I did not feel any aggressiveness, many meetings were held online, and I did not feel any tension related to my participation. I can’t say anything about the European Swimming League, the connections there have been interrupted, but I think they will resume when the time comes.
Source : MatchTV
